No more PB&J for our boy!

Well, maybe the "J", but definitely not the "PB"!!!

Last week, we learned from experience that Isaac is highly allergic to peanuts. We hadn't ever given him peanut butter, but on Tuesday, while visiting my parents, we gave him a tiny bit on a piece of bread. Immediately his lip began to swell and then he started scratching his face. Within a few minutes, his left ear was swollen and the left side of his face was covered in hives. I called the doctor and was told to call 911 for an ambulance. Once Medic arrived, they determined that Isaac's throat was NOT closing up, as sometimes occurs with allergies, so they gave us the option of driving him to the ER or letting him ride in the ambulance. We opted to drive ourselves. Once we got to the ER, Isaac's left eye was almost shut due to the hives. We registered and took a seat in the waiting area. I then changed Isaac's diaper and carried him and the dirty diaper to the vending area where I planned to dispose of the diaper. Before I could do that, however, Isaac started vomiting. We were both covered! While I was looking for napkins/towels to clean us up, he vomited again. Poor thing! He was miserable, we were both covered in it, and Steven, who had been doing some work for a deadline he had, ran to our rescue once he heard me shriek. After all that, they actually let us come back into the ER. Whew! (Note to self: If you ever want to get seen in the ER quickly, just throw up all over their waiting room floor...) ;) Anyway, we were seen by a doctor shortly after that episode, and he said that yes, it was obviously an allergy and that we needed to stay another couple hours for observation because allergy reactions can get worse over time. About an hour into the observation time, I opened Isaac's diaper up to check him, and the entire diaper area was beet red. Also, he had huge round welts (hives, I guess) all over his belly and chest. We called the doctor in, and he said, "Yes, he's gotten worse. We'll need to give him an epinephrine shot." So the nurse came in, gave him the shot, and we were told we needed to wait another hour and see if the reaction calmed down. Thankfully, it did, and we were able to head home. We left the ER with about 5 toys that they had given Isaac during his stay. (By the way, this time we went to Presby Huntersville, and the experience was MUCH BETTER than at CMC's Levine Children's Hospital.)

Isaac is all better now, and we have had blood work done to confirm his allergy to peanuts. According to the bloodwork, he is also allergic to eggs and cats/dogs. We have two cats and he seems to be OK around them. We do know, though, that whenever he's been licked by a dog, he gets hives wherever he was licked. It seems, though, that the most severe allergy he has is to peanuts.

We thank God for saving our little boy last Tuesday, making us aware of his allergy, giving us wonderful paramedics and doctors to work with, and ultimately growing us to be stronger and more knowlegeable parents through this experience.